Saldías, Mónica

Abstract [un]

The aim of the present study is to analyze the representation of the mythic timelessness and the religious subversion in the novel Pedro Páramo (1953) by the Mexican writer Juan Rulfo. The novel is analyzed from a narratological perspective based on the concept of focalization proposed by the French theoretician Gérard Genette. According to Genette it is possible to identify different levels of focalization depending on the position of the narrative voices.
The key question in this investigation is if any salvation is possible in the universe of Pedro Páramo and how the mythic timelessness and the religious subversion are represented in the textual intentionality through the narrative voices. The main conclusion is that there is no possible salvation in the fictional universe of Pedro Páramo. The collective sin is so vast that the intermediation between God and the inhabitants of Comala does not work anymore. Thus, the only possible ”salvation” consists in the separation of the soul from the body the people of Comala experience after death. In Pedro Páramo the dead body is liberated from remorses, but - contrary to the Catholic concepts - becomes a conscious materia sentenced to remember eternally.
Keywords: Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo, narratological analysis, Gérard Genette, textual intentionality, focalization, mythic timelessness, religious subversion, narrative voices.